Ten people – 9 of whom were black – were killed and three others injured on Saturday May 14 at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, in the northeastern United States, after a man armed opened fire. What is the profile of this young assailant, who explained that he was inspired by white supremacists?
An 18 year old boy
Aged only 18, the assailant was identified as Payton Gendron, an American from the town of Conklin in southern New York State, in the northeastern United States.
On Saturday, he would have driven more than 300 km in his parents’ car “without history” from his place of residence to perpetuate this massacre, even carrying out “a reconnaissance operation” the day before the facts, according to the authorities.
A year ago, he had already been arrested by the New York State police, for having threatened his classmates during the graduation ceremony of his university.
A racist man motivated by hate
“This individual came with the goal of killing as many black people as possible,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said at a press conference hours after the attack at a Tops Friendly supermarket.
“The evidence we have gathered so far leaves no doubt that this is a racist hate crime and will be tried as such,” the police chief said. city, Joseph Gramaglia.
In a press release released on Saturday evening, the American federal justice system also assured that it was a “crime motivated by hate” and a “case of violent extremism with racial motivation”.
In the United States, “hate crime” refers to an act directed against a targeted person because of elements of their identity such as race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or disability. Considered an aggravated federal offence, it carries harsher sentences.
a man inspired by white supremacists
Qualified as a good student, lonely and a little perched, the young American had also published a 180-page “manifesto” of a racist nature before the facts, according to some media including the New York Times which had access to this morbid text.
In it, the suspect says he was “inspired” by crimes committed by white supremacists, including the 2019 massacre of 51 worshipers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
He also did not hide his extreme political opinions from his classmates, explaining to them, for example, that he preferred totalitarian regimes, and advancing a pro-Hitler speech, reports the New York Post.
The newspaper Buffalo News has also revealed that the acronym “N14”, a contraction of “Nigger” – an insulting, racist and taboo word in the United States to designate black people – and 14 referring to the current of thought carried by the supremacist David Lane had been painted white on the barrel of one of his guns.
ready to broadcast his crime on social networks
Also note that the assailant carried a camera and broadcast his crime live on Twitch, even if the platform assured that it had deleted the content “two minutes” after the start of its broadcast.
arrested after pointing his gun at him
Payton Gendron was arrested by the police, to which he surrendered after pointing his gun at him, at his neck and then his stomach, and finally gave up on committing suicide.
Prosecuted for “premeditated murder”, an aspect which seems undeniable given the “reconnaissance of the scene” carried out the day before the murderous attack, he nevertheless pleaded not guilty during a first appearance before a judge.
“It was homegrown terrorism, plain and simple,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who traveled to Buffalo to attend the vigil on Sunday.